The coronavirus has been called the 'invisible enemy.' But is it? I’ve seen enough illustrations of the virus that even I could identify it under a microscope. It’s not undetectable when viewed through the proper lens. And the same can be said of God. He’s always there, but we’re oblivious to His presence because we’re not looking for Him. Or maybe we are, but we’re not looking through the proper lens. Or maybe we’ve purposely been wearing PPEs to keep Him at a safe distance.
Sometimes it takes a lens of pain to adjust our focus. I’m hoping this corona crisis inspires us to do just that. When Christ entered Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, the crowds hailed Him with palms and shouts of Hosanna, a common form of praise. But on that day, it might also have been a cry for deliverance – something we’ve all done individually at some point. Today, however, we can relate to their corporate cry for rescue, for their desperate need for a savior.
Even so, within a week, those same people were calling for His crucifixion. Why? Because His redemption plan was definitely not what they were looking for. They expected a conquering hero not a suffering servant. They didn’t understand that His death was their victory. They had yet to adjust their vision through the filter of Christ’s death and resurrection, which changed nothing and everything at the same time. Their circumstances didn’t change (in fact they got worse), but their perception of them did. And therein lies the victory. Christ’s victory over death changes how you live and die.
Did you ever wonder why Jesus waited three days before rising? Some would answer it was to fulfill Scripture. True, but God authored Scripture, so the timing was always part of His redemption plan. Could it be that we are meant to sit with the pain? That we need to fully accept and surrender to the suffering in order to experience the joy of the resurrection. To endure the “in between” – the time after He died but before He rose. It’s a time defined by uncertainty, loss, and utter despair. Sound familiar?
I believe most of our spiritual growth happens during those in-between times because it is only when we are stripped of our own PPEs (power, plans, egos) that we fully grasp how much we need God, how helpless we are left to our own devices. When it seems that all is lost and darkness will prevail, our only choice is whether or not to surrender it all to God. In my experience, pain reveals who He is. More importantly, it provides an opportunity for Him to prove His faithfulness to us. It’s in our suffering that we learn to trust in His. It’s not about our performance. It’s about His - always – especially in our suffering.
Due to the fact that our common enemy does not fight on traditional battlegrounds, we need to adjust our defense. This war won’t be won with artillery. It will be won in hospitals, labs and on our knees. We need not fear an invisible enemy because, while it may not be visible to the naked eye, nothing escapes God’s vision. The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still (Exodus 14:14). For most of us that means sheltering in place while lifting up those on the front lines.
If you are wondering where God is in all this, my pastor used a quote by Mr. Rogers last week in answer to that query: “When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, ‘Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.’” You will see God in the compassionate faces of the nurses, doctors, hospital cleaners, emergency responders, delivery men, mailmen, pharmacists, grocery workers – all those on the front lines.
No one knows (except God) how this crisis will play out or the enormous cost it will exact before its end. I’m choosing to lay that uncertainty at Jesus’ feet today in honor of Palm Sunday because I know that whatever battle I’m facing, He is my victory.
So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal (2 Corinthians 4:18).
*PPE: Personal Protective Equipment